When a lender checks your credit file, the type of inquiry they perform determines whether your credit score is affected. Hard inquiries — triggered by lending decisions — can lower your score by 5–10 points and remain visible to other lenders. Soft inquiries — triggered by your own checks, pre-approvals, and non-lending reviews — have no score impact at all and are invisible to lenders. Understanding which actions trigger which type helps you protect your score before major credit applications. This article is part of the Canadian credit scores hub.
The practical stakes are real. A 700 credit score might qualify you for a competitive mortgage rate; a 689 score might push you into a higher rate tier. If you are planning a mortgage application, knowing that applying for a new credit card two months earlier would cost you 5–10 points (see what credit score you need for a mortgage) — potentially crossing a rate threshold — gives you a reason to delay that application. The knowledge is most valuable not in everyday life but in the six months before a major borrowing event.
The frequently overstated fear is that checking your own credit will hurt your score. It will not. Any check you initiate yourself — through Borrowell, Credit Karma, Equifax.ca, or TransUnion.ca — is a soft inquiry with zero score impact, regardless of how often you check.
What Triggers a Hard vs Soft Inquiry
| Action | Inquiry Type |
|---|---|
| Credit card application | Hard |
| Mortgage application | Hard |
| Car loan or lease application | Hard |
| Personal line of credit application | Hard |
| Student loan (bank-issued) | Hard |
| HELOC application | Hard |
| Cell phone on contract (some carriers) | Hard |
| Apartment rental (varies by landlord and platform) | Sometimes hard — ask before consenting |
| Employer background check | Soft only |
| Pre-approved offer you received without applying | Soft |
| Lender reviewing existing customer for limit changes | Soft |
| Checking your own credit (Borrowell, Credit Karma, bureau direct) | Soft — always |
The key distinction: a hard inquiry requires your active application and consent to a lending review. A soft inquiry happens during pre-screening, monitoring, or non-lending reviews. You authorise hard inquiries when you sign a credit application — the consent is typically embedded in the application terms.
How Much Does a Hard Inquiry Hurt Your Score?
The score impact of a hard inquiry is smaller than many Canadians expect — and much smaller than the impact of a missed payment or high credit utilization. A single hard inquiry typically reduces a score by 5–10 points, with the impact fading substantially after 12 months.
| Credit Profile | Estimated Score Drop Per Hard Inquiry |
|---|---|
| Thin file (fewer than 3 accounts, under 2 years history) | 5–15 points |
| Established file (5+ accounts, 5+ years history) | 2–8 points |
| Score near a key threshold (680, 700, 720) | Could push below the lender threshold — timing matters |
| Excellent score (780+) | Often minimal or undetectable |
The impact decays over time:
| Period | Score Impact |
|---|---|
| Months 1–12 | Full impact active |
| Months 13–24 | Impact substantially reduced |
| Months 25–36 | Minimal impact; inquiry still visible on report |
| After 36 months | Inquiry drops off report entirely |
The danger zone is not cumulative minor damage over years — it is the short-term concentration of multiple hard inquiries before a mortgage or car loan application. Three credit card applications in two months adds 15–30 points of inquiry-related drag at exactly the moment when your score matters most. See how long a hard inquiry stays on your credit for the full timeline.
The Rate-Shopping Protection Rule
Shopping for the best mortgage or car loan rate should not penalise you for comparing lenders. Canadian credit scoring models include a deduplication window that groups multiple inquiries of the same loan type within a short period and counts them as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.
| Loan Type | Deduplication Window | Credit Card Included? |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | 14–45 days | No |
| Auto loan or lease | 14–45 days | No |
| Student loan (bank) | 14–45 days | No |
| Credit card | None | N/A — each application is separate |
The window varies between 14 and 45 days depending on the specific scoring model. To be safe, concentrate all mortgage or car loan applications within a 14-day period. This way you capture the deduplication benefit under any model. Each lender still appears individually on your credit report as a separate entry — the deduplication reduces the scoring impact, not the visibility. Future lenders will still see that you applied at four mortgage lenders, but it will be counted as one inquiry event for score calculation.
Credit card applications do not benefit from this protection. Applying for four credit cards in two weeks creates four separate hard inquiries regardless of timing.
Which Bureau Does Each Lender Pull?
A hard inquiry only appears on the bureau the lender queried. If a lender pulls only Equifax, your TransUnion score is unaffected — and vice versa. This matters because Equifax and TransUnion scores can differ by 20–50 points for the same borrower, and a hard inquiry on the lower-scoring bureau could have more impact than one on the higher-scoring bureau.
| Lender Type | Typical Bureau |
|---|---|
| Big Five banks (mortgage) | Equifax (most common) or both |
| Monoline mortgage lenders | Equifax (most common) |
| Credit unions | TransUnion (varies by province) |
| Car dealerships | TransUnion (most common) |
| Most credit card issuers | Equifax |
| Capital One | TransUnion |
| Neo Financial | Equifax |
| Rogers / Fido (cell on contract) | TransUnion |
| Bell / Telus (cell on contract) | Equifax |
These patterns are not guaranteed — lenders can change bureau preferences, and some pull both. If you know your scores differ significantly between bureaus, it is worth asking which bureau a lender uses before formally applying.
How to Check Your Own Credit for Free
All self-initiated credit checks are soft inquiries with no score impact. You can monitor both bureaus monthly at no cost.
| Service | Bureau | Score | Full Report | Cost | Update Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrowell | Equifax | Yes | Yes | Free | Monthly |
| Credit Karma | TransUnion | Yes | Yes | Free | Weekly |
| Equifax.ca (direct) | Equifax | Paid add-on | Free (online or mail) | Free report | On demand |
| TransUnion.ca (direct) | TransUnion | Paid add-on | Free (online or mail) | Free report | On demand |
Borrowell and Credit Karma are the most practical options for ongoing monitoring — they show your score movement over time and flag new inquiries, new accounts, and derogatory marks as they appear. Checking both gives you visibility into both bureau files.
When to Avoid Hard Inquiries
The 90 days before a mortgage application, car loan application, or any other major credit event is the period where hard inquiry management matters most. During this window, avoid:
- Applying for new credit cards (including retail store cards)
- Financing furniture, electronics, or appliances through store credit plans
- Applying for a new cell phone on contract (some carriers pull hard)
- Any new personal loan or line of credit application
Hard inquiries from outside this 90-day window are already fading in impact by the time you apply for a mortgage. Inquiries older than 12 months have minimal score effect. The short-term pre-application window is where the concern is legitimate.
Unauthorized Inquiries: What to Do
Every hard inquiry on your report should correspond to a credit application you made. If you see inquiries you do not recognise — particularly from lenders you have never dealt with — this is a red flag for identity theft. Someone may have attempted to open credit in your name.
Steps to take for an unauthorized hard inquiry:
- Obtain your full credit report from both Equifax and TransUnion and identify all unfamiliar entries
- Check for accounts you did not open — an inquiry may be accompanied by a fraudulent account
- Place a fraud alert with both Equifax and TransUnion (free; requires lenders to verify your identity before extending credit)
- File a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at cafc.ca
- Dispute the unauthorized inquiry in writing with the bureau — both Equifax and TransUnion are required to investigate and remove inquiries that cannot be verified
See the full process: How to Dispute a Credit Report Error in Canada